A Thornton couple who were flooded out of their home are unable to return eight months on.

Stephen and Paula Simpson spent weeks sleeping on their son’s sofa after they were flooded out of their New Lane home in November.

Paula and Stephen Simpson in their empty home, which is at the centre of a dispute with insurers

Now they say they are unable to move back into their beloved home, where they have lived for 22 years, and are living in a rented bungalow in Out Rawcliffe.

The damage caused to their home in the floods was estimated to be around £54-£56,000 by a surveyor. They say they were only offered £24,900 by their insurance company, Direct Line, to cover the house and its contents.

Paula, 61, said: “We haven’t got any carpets or tiling on the floor.

“Even the internal doors and skirting boards have to be replaced, because we had seven inches of water throughout the whole house.

The damage caused last November

“We lost absolutely everything on the ground floor – TVs, settees, coffee tables, tables and chairs, laptops and printers, and everything in the shed. I feel absolutely awful.

“We don’t want to be in a rented property.

“We want to be in our own house.

“We might have to get a loan for thousands of pounds to get our house back to normal.

The damage caused last November

“In 40 years we have only claimed for a couple of broken windows. It’s very stressful and very upsetting.”

Direct Line said: “We are sorry to hear about Mr and Mrs Simpson’s disappointment and sincerely apologise for the delay they have faced.

“As with many large claims like this, the building work required to repair Mr and Mrs Simpson’s home was put out to several different contractors to tender.

“The final settlement has been agreed based on the contractor’s quote which was received as part of this process and we are happy to appoint this contractor to commence repair work, at Mr and Mrs Simpson’s request.”